Ponda Municipal Council to discuss cloth vendors’ rent concession on Thursday

Ponda: The Ponda Municipal Council has decided to discuss the cloth vendors’ demand of concession in rent for the new building at a meeting to be held on Thursday.

Although the vendors were waiting for a final decision from the chief minister over the concession in rent, the vendors were forced to agree to shift to their allotted shops after the municipality disconnected their power supply.

The vendors are irked with the disconnection of electricity from their shops. The customers too face hardship while shopping in darkness.

The vendors have recently been allotted the shops, but they could not take possession, as the rent issue is still pending, Gharu Sawant, who led the vendors in their protest, said.

The Ponda council had attempted to shift the vendors on two earlier occasions by issuing them 72 hours to evict the fish market building, stating that the weakening structure was a risk to life and safety. However, both times, chief minister Pramod Sawant had put on hold the eviction notice.